On May 18th Federico “Freddy” Spera’s solo project Crejuvent will release its new single called Vesti La Giubba. DutchMetalManiac’s Tim van Velthuysen recently interview him.
Hey, how are you?
Yeah I’m not too bad! It’s been the first time in a while that I got a bit of a break between shows so I’m trying to enjoy it, but I just keep finding things to do and ways to keep busy, but otherwise I’m feeling pretty chilled.
Can you tell us something about the history of Crejuvent?
Crejuvent is my solo project. I first had the concept for it around 2014 and released my first set of demos sometimes the year after. I released my debut EP in 2017 called Time and I’m now releasing a single on May 18th which I’m well excited for!
I’ve been playing in many bands for the past 7 years and I felt I needed a project that was entirely my own, where I could have complete creative freedom to do whatever I wanted. Which is really why anybody has solo projects I suppose.
For people not knowing Crejuvent (yet), how would you describe your music yourself?
I would describe it as an orgasmic concoction of sounds. A serenading cacophony for the ears of the spiritually brittle. It’s a sonic barrage to those unaccustomed to heavy music, yet a welcoming embrace for metalheads of all kinds.
When someone doesn’t know Crejuvent yet and you can choose one of your songs to present yourself, which song would that be?
Oohh, tricky. I think the track Time off the 2017 EP is probably the best showcase of my songwriting as a whole. It’s quite heavy but it’s still melodic so it has a relatively large appeal.
What makes Crejuvent unique?
Hmm, that’s probably best for the listener to decide as I’m very clearly biased. I suppose if I had to pick a particular element it would be that I don’t really write with a genre in mind, and I think that shows quite well in the music. I’ve had reviewers and bloggers mention that they struggle to categorize the music in a particular genre (I was on the Metal Archives for a while as atmospheric death metal at one point). I listen to a lot of different types of music (particularly a lot of different types of metal) and I’m not afraid of mixing things around when writing if I feel it suits the song. It’s definitely heavy, and I would lean a bit towards maybe melodic death metal, but I don’t really gravitate towards the cheesy harmonic content of typical melo-death, so I don’t know.
Any future plans you can already tell us something about?
Like I previously mentioned, I’m releasing a single on May 18th called Vesti La Giubba, along with a music video and a B-side for it. Those more classically inclined would have noticed from the title that it’s a cover of a famous opera piece. I’m really excited about releasing both the single and the B-side, as the B-side shows a more convoluted side of my songwriting and I’m extremely proud of how it turned out!
Any upcoming gigs for Crejuvent? Maybe coming to The Netherlands?
No upcoming gigs as of yet, as I’ve been trying to focus my energy on releases. But playing in The Netherlands is definitely not out of scope! I lived in Maastricht for four years before coming to the UK and I absolutely loved it, I would move back in a heartbeat (and I’m not just saying that, it was fucking excellent). I actually started playing music there and was in my first few bands during that time!
How do you think your life would be without music?
Infinitely more boring. Although I wouldn’t have been so busy practicing when I was younger so I may have gotten laid more, who knows? I’d rather not think about it in hindsight…
What advice would you give to young and starting bands?
Play as much as possible, wherever possible, and with as many different musicians as possible. That’s the best way to grow as a musician I think, and by expanding your musical horizons you’ll only get better at making music that means something to you. NEVER STOP PLAYING! EVER!
Thanks for your answers! Is there anything you want to say to DutchMetalManiac’s readers?
Thank you guys for the questions! Be sure to follow Crejuvent on Facebook, Bandcamp (where you can stream all of my releases so far), and on my personal YouTube and Instagram page! You can also stream my formal releases on all major streaming platforms, or get a physical copy from my Bandcamp page. Thanks for reading guys!
Hi!
I’m Tim van Velthuysen and I started DutchMetalManiac back in 2014. I’m 29 years old and I live in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Of course, I like metal, but I can also appreciate other musical styles.
In addition to DutchMetalManiac I also have a personal website on which I’ll post various things that won’t fit on DutchMetalManiac, but might be interesting for you as well. It’s in Dutch though.